Nick McArdle has announced he is leaving Channel 9, stunning viewers during the final edition of Wide World of Sports for 2026 after a career spanning 40 years covering Australian sport.
McArdle is set to begin a new role at Sydney’s Knox Grammar School as Chief Engagement and Communications Officer, starting later this month.
The long-time broadcaster built his profile as a familiar face delivering Channel 7’s sport bulletins, becoming widely known for a polished style and a measured tone. In 2020, he moved to Channel 9, bringing his experience across cricket and rugby and leaving Channel 7 with a major gap to fill.
On the program, fellow panellists and colleagues suggested McArdle may be stepping away from the television camera following his decades in the industry. The farewell segment ended with the rest of the panel applauding him after his remarks.
Australian Test great Mark Taylor was the first to pay tribute, telling McArdle on air: “As I mentioned at the start of the show, it’s a special show for you,” Taylor said. “This is your final one here at Wide World of Sports. And at Nine. Some 40 years in media. 30 years roughly in television. Mate, congratulations. “Firstly, on behalf of all of us who have worked with you over the last couple of years, absolutely loved it. You’ve done a terrific job here. I know you’ve got some things to do next year, some different things to do and wish you and your family all the best for what you’ve got in the near future. Thank you.”
In his final sign-off, McArdle said he still struggled at times to take in what his career had allowed him to experience alongside sporting icons. “Now I just want to say, and thank you for allowing me a moment to say, it’s been an absolute privilege,” he said. “I grew up in a very small country town, right on the end of the Murray in South Australia by the name of Meningie, 6,000 or 700 people. And like you all know, when you grow up in the country, you just idolise sports people and you want to, you know, you want to follow and you think, oh, one day I’ll get to meet these people.”
He then pointed to Taylor’s importance in his journey, recalling their first tour together when McArdle was starting out. “Tubby, you were captain on the first overseas assignment that I had as a young reporter, the 1997 tour to South Africa and you’re the skipper,” he said.
McArdle also described a moment that captured the disbelief he often felt at where his work had taken him. “Now, having got to work with you has been remarkable. I never forget a moment at Headingley in 2009, the Ashes series, and I was hosting on the ground at Headingley and I was standing between Michael Holding and David Gower and I was thinking I have no idea what they said at the time, because a voice in my head was just like, ‘What the hell are you doing here? Like, how did this happen’.”
He said that feeling never really went away. “And every day has been like that throughout my career. So (I am) very, very grateful for that.”
McArdle also thanked the production crews he has worked with over the years and addressed viewers directly as he reflected on a lesson he was given early in his career. “And also to people at home,” he said. “I got told very early on to make sure you always remember who the customer is. Why you are doing it and who you’re doing it for. And I’ve remembered that every single day that I’ve been able to do this. “So it’s been very, very special. So thank you.”
